M&IT and Fay Sharpe lead gender research for events industry

Pictured: M&IT and Fay Sharpe are carrying out a survey to look at gender-specific challenges in the UK events industry

M&IT has
teamed up with Fast Forward 15 founder Fay Sharpe to take a close look into the
gender make-up of the UK events industry.

The industry
figureheads are surveying event professionals to find out
things like whether women are being underrepresented at board level; what, if
anything is holding back women from advancing their careers; and whether
companies should have quotas in place. It will also determine whether there is
a general pay disparity between men and women, just as the BBC continues to
face criticism for its pay margins between its male and female employees.

M&IT editor Gareth Roberts said:
"It is widely thought that women make up about 70 per cent of the events
industry, yet are seemingly underrepresented in senior positions. We realise that a detailed analysis is needed on this, to firstly establish whether this
is the case, and more importantly, to find out what can be done to change it.

"The
BBC has reminded us that gender discrimination is still very much alive in the
workplace, making this bit of research that much more urgent. Our
industry is one of the most creative and cohesive industries, thanks to our
large talent pool; it is vital that we retain and support that
talent.

"The results from this research will help
companies benchmark themselves, and we will also use it to support and
encourage up and coming event professionals. It is an important issue and we're
proud to be leading the way in addressing it."

All UK event
professionals are invited to take part in the survey, which can be found here.
The deadline for responses has been extended to 28 July to allow for as many
responses as possible.